Ubisoft senior VP of sales and marketing Tony Key has warned against writing Sony's PS Vita off, claiming the handheld is set to truly take off this Christmas.

Key said a combination of key games – including Ubisoft's own Assassin's Creed III: Liberation and Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified – and big bucks set to be spent by Sony will generate consumer interest towards the end of 2012.

Reasons to be cheerful

"It's a really good platform and we've always liked it," said Key.

"The way it's designed, it's a beautiful piece of hardware. It's got cool features that you can't get anywhere else. And Assassin's Creed, we believe, is the right type of game for that system. It's definitely too early to say that Vita's not going to be a success."

PS Vita sales have been slow to date, with PocketGamer.biz having exclusively revealed Sony had shifted just over 100,000 units in the UK in the handheld's first 10 weeks on sale.

Key Christmas

Looking ahead, however, Key said Ubisoft was pleased that Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is not the only big game bound for PS Vita this Christmas, claiming competition from Activision – amongst others – is "a good thing" for the handheld.

"We're actually very happy that there's another big Vita game coming for Christmas from a competitor because we think that will raise all boats," he added. 

"It's going to generate a lot of interest in the Vita this holiday season.

"Sony's going to be spending a lot of money and resources to make sure that the Vita is there and it's relevant and it's doing well."



[source: IGN]